Chapter 162: Dreams Come True, All Five Women Together

…

Just as Yelu Yanxi and his ministers were at a loss over how to handle this diplomatic affair, and Xiao Sese was preparing to help Yelu Nanxian mediate so that Yelu Nanxian could go to Western Xia and become Li Qianxun's Empress, the imperial examination of the Zhao Song dynasty was also being prepared in full swing.

Because this session of the imperial examination was mainly aimed at cultivating talent for the reconquest and governance of Western Xia, Zhao Yu and his ministers, after deliberation, decided to make clear that the provincial examination would test knowledge of Western Xia's geography and customs, and that the court would uniformly distribute study materials.

To demonstrate fairness, this year's imperial examination was postponed by one month and held in the third month.

The examinees' food and lodging for that month would all be subsidized by the court; they only needed to study the materials the court gave them.

The first draft of the study materials on Western Xia was compiled by Zhang Chun.

The study materials Zhang Chun prepared for the examinees had no roundabout flourishes — they were packed solid with hard substance.

First, Zhang Chun had mapmakers skilled in cartography draw ten detailed maps of Western Xia in its entirety, and had them posted in ten open public places for the examinees to study by reference.

Second, Zhang Chun brought out every past war involving Western Xia and analyzed why each was won or lost.

— On this point, Zhang Chun paid no heed at all to the cold war she was currently waging with Li Lin and the others, and simply took Li Lin's War Case Analysis (Western Xia Volume) and used it directly as study material.

Third, she raised the question: if the Zhao Song dynasty could reconquer Western Xia, from what direction should it be governed, and what kind of institutions should be adopted? She also helpfully pointed out that Western Xia, situated on the frontier, had a fierce and martial populace, and that a policy combining kindness and authority was needed to win its heartfelt submission.

In short, Zhang Chun laid everything out on paper — what could be said and what could not — she brought it all out, so that this reconquest of Western Xia would not produce any more colossal blunders.

For example, previously, out of consideration for Emperor Shenzong, the Zhao Song dynasty had summarized the Five-Route Campaign against Xia very euphemistically, but when it came to Zhang Chun, she bluntly and unceremoniously brought it all out for discussion.

Zhang Chun even directly gave the result and worked backward from it.

Zhang Chun's summary:

In the Five-Route Campaign against Xia, the Song army lost not a single field battle, yet of the 350,000 regular troops, 140,000 — four out of ten — were lost; of the 200,000 civilian porters, fewer than half returned; the vast wealth generated by Wang Anshi's reforms was seven or eight tenths consumed by this single campaign; the only two gains the Zhao Song dynasty reaped from the entire war were Lanzhou and Mizhi, while all other regions, lacking the strength to hold them, were vomited back and returned to Western Xia.

Western Xia's response was also simple: concentrate the nation's forces to defend a single city, build strong walls and clear the fields, and constantly launch raids on the Zhao Song dynasty's grain supply lines.

Zhang Chun held that, given this back-and-forth between the two sides, the outcome of the Zhao Song dynasty's great defeat stemmed from three causes — two secondary, one primary.

The first secondary cause was poor choice of personnel — Zhang Chun fell only short of saying outright that Emperor Shenzong had chosen his men poorly.

— Zhang Chun still held back somewhat because Emperor Shenzong was her father-in-law; with others she did not indulge them at all, even naming them directly and saying Gao Zunyu and Wang Zhongzheng were too selfish and too incompetent, to the ruin of the nation.

The second secondary cause was that the timing was wrong.

— Zhang Chun believed the best time for an agrarian civilization's army to launch an attack beyond the frontier was spring, not autumn, because autumn was precisely when northern horses were at their fattest and strongest and cavalry combat power peaked; the awkward point for the Zhao Song dynasty was that the rift between the Western Xia Empress Dowager Liang and Emperor Li Bingchang happened to occur in the sixth month; if the Zhao Song dynasty did not send troops, it would be a pity, yet if it did send troops, as in this case, trouble arose in the sixth month, the army set out in the ninth month, and the fighting dragged straight on into winter; the bitter cold of the great northwest not only caused massive non-combat attrition among the Song troops but also vastly increased the difficulty of logistical supply.

Of course, the primary cause of the Five-Route Campaign's failure was still the Song army's grain and fodder supply.

Between Western Xia and the Zhao Song dynasty lay the Hengshan mountain range as well as the seven-hundred-li Hanghai and the Mu Us Desert.

The seven-hundred-li Hanghai and the Mu Us Desert, linked together, form a sandy zone — eight hundred li of road with much sand and deep drifts; even light carts passing to and fro find it difficult; a draft cart loaded with grain can carry no more than twenty shi, and whenever it enters deep sand it inevitably bogs down and stalls.

Yet for a Central Plains regime to strike at Lingzhou, or at Western Xia's capital Xingqing Prefecture, it must cross this sandy zone.

Some may not understand and ask: historically, how did the Mongols destroy Western Xia?

That was because the Mongols came down from the north and could bypass this sandy zone, so it was far easier for them.

How difficult is it to secure logistics within this sandy zone?

The figures Zhang Chun produced were those given by the then Director of Transport Shen Kuo.

On that western expedition, the Zhao Song dynasty transported grain mainly by human porters carrying it on their backs or shoulders, at most using a chicken-cart (a small hand-pushed barrow); animal power such as donkeys or camels was simply unusable.

This was mainly because, although a beast of burden could carry more grain and fodder each trip, first, it also consumed a great deal of fodder itself, and second, the terrain around Hengshan was so harsh that animals, being less agile than men, easily caused the grain routes to become jammed and blocked.

At that time, Li Cha, the Transport Commissioner of Huanqing Circuit, used donkeys to haul grain, and the donkeys ended up jamming the grain route shut; the supplies simply could not be gotten through, and in the end several ten-thousands of the great army starved to death, with even the horror of men eating men occurring.

Earlier, during Emperor Renzong's reign, they had liked to use camels and mules to transport grain, but that was mainly for hauling from Guanzhong or Hedong toward Hengshan; once inside Hengshan, animal power was no match for human power.

Shen Kuo also gave the limit of human-powered grain transport.

According to Shen Kuo's observations and calculations, one porter carrying grain could shoulder six dou; adding the rations the soldiers carried themselves, this could supply two men on a nine-day round trip — in other words, one porter could support one soldier advancing nine days into Xia territory; beyond that, the grain for the return trip would no longer suffice.

The method the Zhao Song dynasty is currently using to solve this problem is "shallow attacks and forward fortification."

Question: apart from this, what other methods can solve this difficulty?

In short, the materials Zhang Chun produced had both answers and questions; she brought out everything she could think of concerning Western Xia, holding nothing back, so that those unfamiliar with Western Xia, those who did not understand Western Xia, those who did not understand the difficulty of reconquering Western Xia, and those who did not know how to govern Western Xia after the Zhao Song dynasty reconquered it, could gain an in-depth understanding of Western Xia and think through how they might help the Zhao Song dynasty reconquer Western Xia and how they might help the Zhao Song dynasty govern it.

Zhao Yu took the study materials Zhang Chun had produced and showed them to the assembled chancellors and executors.

Contrary to Zhao Yu's expectations, this time, whether the chancellors of the New Faction or those of the Old Faction, they all highly approved of Zhang Chun's summary.

Moreover, seeing that Zhao Yu did not mind laying bare Emperor Shenzong's errors so that the new men could learn from experience, they one after another stepped in, and with their outstanding experience and insight, supplemented and upgraded the study materials.

And so, the young men of the Zhao Song dynasty collectively crammed knowledge about Western Xia…

……

One evening, Zhao Yu walked with Zhang Chun in the imperial garden, and Zhang Chun took the opportunity to recommend to Zhao Yu the talents she had her eye on.

Just then, Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun came face to face with Li Lin, Ye Shi Yun, Ma Ma Xiao Jiao, and Yuan Qingcheng.

The four women glanced at Zhang Chun without showing anything on their faces, then bowed together gracefully to Zhao Yu: "Your concubines pay respects to the Imperial Majesty."

Zhao Yu looked at the four women, then glanced at Zhang Chun, who had turned her head aside.

Clearly, the conflict among the five women had not yet been resolved; they were still in a cold war.

Sometimes Zhao Yu was truly at a loss for words — in their past life the five of them had averaged over thirty years old, and in this life nearly three more years had passed, yet unexpectedly they could still be so childish.

After paying respects to Zhao Yu, Li Lin, speaking for the other three women, said: "Your concubines dare not delay Your Majesty's official business; we shall take our leave here."

It seemed the four women wished to depart on that note, with no intention of being the first to ease matters.

And Zhang Chun raised her chin even higher, showing not the slightest sign of backing down first.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu did not waste words, and bluntly called out to the four women: "You lot, come with me; I have something to tell you."

Hearing this, Zhang Chun actually said: "Then Your concubine will take her leave first."

Zhao Yu glared at Zhang Chun: "You come with me too."

Having spoken, Zhao Yu took the lead and headed for Zhang Chun's quarters.

Seeing this, the five women all hesitated, unsure.

In the end, Zhang Chun thought, 'It's my home we're going to anyway — what have I to fear?'

Thinking this, Zhang Chun was the first to follow in Zhao Yu's footsteps.

Li Lin's four daughters did not want to go to Zhang Chun's place, but they dared not defy the imperial decree, so in the end, they simply followed Zhao Yu to Zhang Chun's residence.

After Zhao Yu arrived, he walked right in.

Zhang Chun followed closely behind Zhao Yu and entered as well.

When it came to Li Lin, Ye Shi Yun, and Ma Xiao Jiao, they hesitated only slightly before following him inside.

Finally, it was Yuan Qing Cheng's turn; she paused, gazing at the palace she had not visited in a long time, sighed, then stepped inside.

Li Shishi eagerly lifted the blue cloth curtain and drew aside the spotted bamboo screen. Zhao Yu turned through the central gate and saw a pair of mandarin duck lanterns hanging above a rhinoceros-hide incense table, upon which rested an ancient bronze Boshan incense burner, emitting fine threads of fragrance. On both walls hung four landscape paintings by famous masters, and below them stood two rhinoceros-hide Taishi chairs.

Zhao Yu sat down in the seat of honor.

Zhang Chun still tried to sit beside Zhao Yu.

But Zhao Yu did not even lift his eyelids—he said, "Stand."

Hearing this, Zhang Chun could only obediently stand before Zhao Yu.

After Li Lin and the other three entered, they quietly lined up beside Zhang Chun.

Liu Mingda, always attuned to Zhao Yu's thoughts, immediately dismissed all servants upon seeing the scene.

Only then did Zhao Yu speak: "Why do you still harbor resentment toward one another?"

All five women remained silent, their expressions resolute.

Zhao Yu knew that with him present, the five women would find it hard to speak openly, so he added: "I give you one cup of tea's time. If you still cannot reach an agreement, I will intervene."

With that, Zhao Yu waved his hand, telling them to find their own place to talk.

The five women silently went to Zhang Chun's secret chamber. The four others took their usual seats, while Zhang Chun, as always, sat on the bed.

The room fell silent; no one showed any intention to speak first.

Time dripped away, second by second.

Finally, Ma Xiao Jiao could no longer hold back: "One cup of tea won't last long—if the Emperor intervenes, our secret won't stay hidden anymore."

"Let it not be hidden then," said Ye Shi Yun. "I'm actually curious—what kind of shocked expression will Zhao Yu make when he finds out we're transmigrants?"

"If he's just shocked, that's fine," said Yuan Qing Cheng. "But I fear he'll think we're possessed by spirits and send Song the Master to exorcise us—or lock us away in some temple or monastery as monsters."

"This… Zhao Yu wouldn't do that, would he? Could he really abandon us?" said Ma Xiao Jiao.

"It's not bad things we fear—it's bad people," said Yuan Qing Cheng. "Don't forget the witchcraft case. This is still a feudal society; their backward thinking is only natural. Hmm… Zhao Yu is slightly better, but we mustn't overestimate him. After all, this concerns our five freedoms and happiness."

Ye Shi Yun and Ma Xiao Jiao nodded, agreeing with Yuan Qing Cheng.

Only then did Li Lin look at Zhang Chun and ask: "Don't you have anything to say?"

Zhang Chun replied coolly: "What's there for me to say? I didn't expel the four of you—you stopped playing with me. Does what I say even matter?"

Ma Xiao Jiao said: "Of course it matters. If you promise to give up being Empress, give up being Empress Dowager, we'll forgive you."

Zhang Chun sneered: "Why should I seek your forgiveness?"

"You!" Ye Shi Yun snapped angrily. "Fine, then let's break ties completely!"

Zhang Chun showed no sign of yielding; she taunted: "Ha, what a joke—we're already breaking ties completely, aren't we?"

Li Lin did not let Zhang Chun and Ye Shi Yun escalate further. She spoke calmly: "You can live without us, and we can live without you. The real issue is: Zhao Yu intends to interfere in our affairs. He is Emperor—he wants us to reconcile. Do you dare refuse?"

"I…"

Zhang Chun wanted to say: "What do I dare not do?"

But the words stuck in her throat; she could not utter them.

Seeing this, Li Lin spoke calmly: "You dare not defy Zhao Yu, and we dare not defy Zhao Yu either. The key is—we all carry secrets he must never learn. We cannot let him meddle in our affairs. More importantly, with us here, you never had a chance to become Empress, let alone Empress Dowager. So face reality: abandon these unrealistic fantasies, and let's remain friends?"

As soon as Li Lin finished, Ye Shi Yun, Ma Xiao Jiao, and even Yuan Qing Cheng all turned to look at Zhang Chun, waiting for her decision.

Zhang Chun looked slowly at each of the four women, then said softly: "Even if I say I'm willing to give up… will you believe me?"

"This…"

To be honest, the four women found it hard to believe Zhang Chun—she rarely spoke the truth.

Zhang Chun gave a cold smile: "See? The problem isn't me—it's your lack of trust. If you trusted me, you'd have brought this up long ago, spoken openly and honestly—would we be here today?"

The four women were left speechless.

After a long pause, Ye Shi Yun said: "Hmph! Now you're blaming us? If you hadn't cried wolf so many times, would we have doubted you?"

Zhang Chun was left speechless too.

The two sides seemed to be stuck in another stalemate.

After another pause, just as Li Lin was about to say, "Then swear an oath—let's put this behind us," Zhao Yu suddenly pushed open the door to Zhang Chun's secret chamber.

Zhao Yu saw that Zhang Chun and the four women were still sharply divided. He smiled: "Since you can't untie this knot yourselves, let me solve it my way."

With that, Zhao Yu turned and shut the door behind him, thinking to himself: 'I've waited for this day a long time…'

…

(End of Chapter)