Chapter 230: Husband and Wife

…

Song Jiang and his followers seized Liang Shan, recruited righteous troops, gathered masses in rebellion, led their forces to attack prefectures across Jingxi and Jingdong East Road, captured more than ten commanderies, dozens of counties, and hundreds of villages, punished gentry, killed the rich to aid the poor, and their influence grew daily.

Now, Song Jiang's rebel army had begun splitting into multiple columns to storm cities and seize territory, slaughtering gentry.

Their rate of advance was more than ten times faster than before.

Fortunately, Song Jiang's rebels were nomadic bandits who never occupied any land beyond Liang Shan; typically, they would raid and plunder, then swiftly withdraw.

To the Zhao Song dynasty, Song Jiang's rebels posed negligible threat—but the gentry could not endure it.

More terrifyingly, wherever Song Jiang's rebels went, they flew two banners: one inscribed with "Acting on Heaven's Behalf," the other bearing a portrait of Huang Chao.

This clearly signaled that Song Jiang's rebels intended to emulate Huang Chao's grand campaign—to exterminate all aristocratic clans and slaughter the gentry, acting on Heaven's behalf.

Song Jiang's rebels were indeed doing exactly that.

Wherever their units passed, they left commoners unharmed, killing only the gentry: they slaughtered every male in gentry households, spared only women and children, seized their wealth, burned their land deeds, and distributed their grain and belongings among the common people.

A beautiful term to describe this is—whale fall.

One whale fall, ten thousand lives flourish.

Often, eliminating a local gentry household freed tens of thousands of nearby peasants from suffering.

This caused ever more impoverished commoners to long for Song Jiang's rebels to come to their lands and act on Heaven's behalf.

News of Song Jiang's rebels had long reached Dongjing Bianliang.

Many court officials whose interests had been threatened—including those fearing Song Jiang's rebels might undermine the Zhao Song dynasty's foundation—submitted memorials urging Zhao Yu to dispatch large armies to exterminate Song Jiang's rebels.

Zhao Yu did not reject these reasonable petitions; as usual, he ordered the Privy Council to send multiple armies in succession to suppress Song Jiang's rebels.

Yet every army the court dispatched was defeated by Song Jiang's rebels, and most Song soldiers, resentful of gentry obstruction of court reforms that denied the poor any chance at survival, defected to join Song Jiang's rebels.

By the way, while sending troops to suppress Song Jiang's rebels, the court also intensified propaganda for the Two New Policies, informing more people of the reforms' purpose and how the newly recovered regions—Longyou, Ningxia, Gansu, Qinghai, and the Eleven States of Yan Yun—now enjoyed great happiness under these reforms.

Some ministers tried to stop the court from promoting the Two New Policies at this time, claiming such reforms were stoking fires, inflaming tensions between Song Jiang's rebels and the populace against the gentry, even undermining the Zhao Song dynasty's rule, and begged Zhao Yu to rescind the order to continue reform.

Instead, Zhao Yu not only ignored their advice but ordered local administrations to strictly enforce the Two New Policies, especially rigorously adjudicating ownerless land by stamp tax: only land registered with the court and properly taxed would be protected; all other land titles would be rejected outright.

Thus, even if any survivor remained in a gentry household slaughtered by Song Jiang's rebels, if their family had not re-surveyed their land or obtained a new land deed issued by the court with proper registration, they could not reclaim their ancestral land.

By the way, some opportunists took advantage of the chaos to rush and register gentry land under their own names, pay taxes under the Two New Policies, and seize gentry land.

Even if disputes over such land reached the court, judgment always favored the party holding the court-issued new land deed.

Don't blame the court for injustice: the court gave the gentry ample time and opportunity to survey their land and obtain court-issued deeds; they hid their land to evade taxes, stubbornly refused to follow court policy, so by abandoning their duties, they naturally forfeited their rights—and such punishment was entirely deserved.

In short, thanks to the court's vigorous propaganda and Song Jiang's rebels' "acting on Heaven's behalf," the populace now widely believed that the gentry were selfish and resisted the court's wise Two New Policies, causing Song Jiang to rise in rebellion to emulate Huang Chao and exterminate aristocratic clans that denied commoners upward mobility and slaughter gentry who denied the poor any chance at survival.

In other words, the court and Song Jiang's rebels gained popular support, while greedy gentry became the people's enemies.

This prompted many desperate poor to rise in rebellion, echoing Song Jiang: they slaughtered gentry, plundered the rich to aid the poor, and opened granaries to distribute grain.

Of course, many more simply took advantage of the chaos to become bandits, burning, killing, and looting.

Such people and incidents multiplied, and gentry across the Central Plains lived in constant fear.

This finally forced many gentry to reflect on their stance and behavior; they realized that opposing the court and obstructing the Two New Policies not only failed to protect their interests but risked provoking popular wrath and bringing total ruin.

Suddenly, many gentry who had come to their senses went voluntarily to local offices, requesting officials to survey their land and pay taxes according to the Two New Policies; some even openly declared support for court reforms to ensure their family's survival.

As a result, the court's pace in implementing the Two New Policies accelerated dramatically.

In the fastest-moving Jingji region, adoption had already reached over ninety percent.

In Jingdong East and Jingxi Roads, where Song Jiang's rebels were most active, adoption had reached seventy to eighty percent.

Even nearby Hebei East, Huainan East, and Jingxi North Roads had reached around fifty percent.

Only now did some impoverished peasants, previously deceived by gentry, realize the court's Two New Policies were not meant to exploit them but to drastically reduce their burdens and give them a chance to survive.

The court's revenue in regions implementing the Two New Policies also increased significantly.

Crucially, after this series of reforms and upheavals, the Two New Policies were gaining acceptance across more and more regions.

Even in remote areas, gentry who had previously ignored, feigned compliance with, or secretly obstructed the court's Two New Policies, now teetering on the edge of survival or destruction, began feeling the reform tide surge with unprecedented force against their entrenched domains.

—These gentry, whether forced or willing, began adjusting strategies, attempting to reconcile with this irreversible historical tide; through letters, they began exploring how to seek mutual benefit under the inevitable Two New Policies, rather than stubbornly resisting and causing their families' decline or extinction.

Undoubtedly, as of now, Zhao Yu's Water Margin Plan had achieved its intended effect.

Yet simultaneously, it had severely damaged Zhao Yu's relationship with the scholar-officials behind the gentry.

This was not because the scholar-officials knew Song Jiang's rebels were orchestrated by Zhao Yu.

Rather, they saw that Zhao Yu was using Song Jiang's rebels and popular sentiment to push the Two New Policies.

It was not hard to see.

First, with the gentry in such dire straits, Zhao Yu still vigorously pushed the Two New Policies, utterly disregarding the gentry's fate, even appearing to "strike while the iron is hot," forcing them to accept reform—this alone proved Zhao Yu was leveraging Song Jiang's rebels and popular pressure to compel gentry concessions. After all, this was precisely the method scholar-officials loved to use to force imperial concessions; now, Zhao Yu had turned it against the gentry.

This perfectly proved the saying: "Use the enemy's own weapon against him."

This left the scholar-officials deeply unsettled. They had countless times used popular resentment and public opinion to tightly bind imperial power, forcing emperors to compromise under their demands. Now, this sharp sword had turned and pierced them—filling them with unprecedented crisis and dread.

Moreover, many officials proposed halting the dispatch of regional armies, especially the Garrison Armies, to suppress Song Jiang's rebels—they were useless and counterproductive—and instead immediately send the Four Auxiliary Armies, or even the Divine Mechanism Army, to crush them.

But Zhang Dun and other ministers argued that using a cannon to kill a chicken was unnecessary: suppressing Song Jiang's rebels required no deployment of the Four Auxiliary Armies, let alone the Divine Mechanism Army; crucially, Song Jiang's rebels operated just left and right of the Jingji region—if troops protecting Jingji were withdrawn and Song Jiang's rebels attacked Dongjing Bianliang, what then?

Zhao Yu unhesitatingly chose Zhang Dun and the ministers' advice.

This clearly indicated Zhao Yu intended to continue leveraging Song Jiang's rebels and popular sentiment to push the Two New Policies, offering the gentry only two choices: either accept reform and surrender part of their privileges and interests, or await death.

Of course, Zhao Yu would never say this outright and give others grounds to criticize him.

Since the court's armies sent to suppress Song Jiang's rebels kept failing and defecting, Zhao Yu adopted the suggestion of some ministers to amnesty Song Jiang's rebels, appointing Hou Meng to handle the amnesty, leaving the scholar-officials no grounds to fault Zhao Yu—after all, this was the Zhao Song dynasty's standard method for dealing with rebels and bandits.

Seeing Zhao Yu's determination to push the Two New Policies, scholar-officials notified all gentry connected to them: never obstruct court reforms again; the court now has the resolve to destroy all or nothing—if you persist in your obstinacy, your families will be annihilated.

Some gentry, upon receiving such warnings, were furious at the court's harshness yet helpless before the tide of events; they felt their resistance was pitifully weak against overwhelming momentum, and reluctantly embraced the court's reforms.

Of course, many gentry chose to arm themselves to resist Song Jiang's rebels and suppress rebellions among their subjects—simply put, anyone who dared touch their vested interests was asking for death.

These gentry would become Song Jiang's rebels' next primary targets…

…

The inner palace.

One of Zhao Yu's residences.

Zhang Chun had just finished attending to Zhao Yu with several palace attendants; she waved them away and nestled into Zhao Yu's arms, wrapping her arms around his waist, asking, "Your Majesty seems troubled?"

Zhao Yu held Zhang Chun close and said slowly, "Could it spiral out of control?"

Zhang Chun knew Zhao Yu was not asking whether Song Jiang's rebels might slip from their control, but that the court's propaganda of the Two New Policies had been too effective, and Song Jiang's rebels had become too successful a model, causing suffering masses across the land, led by ambitious men, to rise in rebellion.

Not all these rebels and bandits, like Song Jiang's, targeted only the gentry; some burned, killed, looted, and committed every evil deed.

The key issue is that these rebels and bandits are now growing increasingly rampant.

This demon was unleashed by their own hands; no wonder Zhao Yu feared they would become too powerful to control, trapping themselves in their own web.

The idea was Zhang Chun's; she too feared losing control, for then she could not answer to Zhao Yu—but she could not show it. She could only tell Zhao Yu: "The court can summon Song Jiang to surrender at any moment. Without this banner, the other petty outlaws are no threat and can be easily crushed."

After a pause, Zhang Chun added, "If Your Majesty is still uneasy, you may immediately send a large army to exterminate these bandits. Or, Your Majesty may instruct Song Jiang to absorb these outlaws. Your Majesty must have faith in our Great Song's mighty army—if they show no mercy, how can these starving peasants armed only with hoes and sticks stand against them?"

Zhang Chun spoke sense.

But it did not reassure Zhao Yu.

Ministers had already warned Zhao Yu to guard against Song Jiang's rebels absorbing other rebel bands and growing too powerful, becoming a true threat to the court.

The key issue, beyond these endless troubles, was that Zhao Yu had an even greater concern.

This greater concern was that while Song Jiang's rebels had already struck such fear, the Jiangnan region—Zhao Yu's most cherished and most feared territory—still stubbornly resisted and obstructed the court's reforms.

The Jiangnan gentry were certain: Zhao Yu allowed Song Jiang's rebels to ravage the Central Plains because the Central Plains were relatively poor and expendable; even if shattered, as long as Jiangnan remained intact, the Zhao-Song dynasty would suffer no fatal blow. But Jiangnan was different—it was the economic and grain lifeline of the Zhao-Song dynasty. If it faltered, the dynasty's very foundation would be shaken. Hence, they acted with impunity.

Since the Five Dynasties, Jiangnan's economy had grown rapidly, and land consolidation was most widespread. The gentry class, by acquiring vast tracts of land, became major landlords with formidable economic power. For example, in the Taihu Basin and other wealthy Jiangnan regions, gentry estates sprawled across the land, providing the material basis for their power.

Jiangnan also valued cultural education, with academies lining the land, nurturing countless scholars. The gentry, leveraging their economic advantage, heavily funded their family sons' studies and civil service examinations, securing official posts and elevating their family's social status and influence. In regions like Jiangxi and Zhejiang, many gentry families had held official posts for generations, possessing considerable political resources within the court.

As local elites, the gentry actively participated in regional affairs—building irrigation systems, bridges, and other public infrastructure, organizing disaster relief and charitable activities. They held immense prestige and influence locally, serving as vital bridges between the government and the people.

This made the Jiangnan gentry group extremely powerful. Like an underground current beneath Jiangnan's splendor, they appeared on the surface as refined scholars, yet concealed within them arrogance and calculation toward imperial authority. Historically, they had repeatedly demonstrated astonishing cohesion and influence at critical moments, steering the course of court politics.

The key point is that the Jiangnan gentry group had precisely seized the Zhao-Song dynasty's weak point: leveraging the region's vital importance, they rendered Zhao Yu's Two New Policies nearly impossible to implement in Jiangnan.

Zhao Yu wished to reform and eliminate the Zhao-Song dynasty's hidden threats, prolonging its rule, yet he fully understood that pulling one hair could move the whole body.

Thus, for this sensitive region, Zhao Yu had to proceed with extreme caution.

Seeing Zhao Yu still silent, Zhang Chun pressed: "Your Majesty has another concern?"

Zhao Yu and Zhang Chun shared the same fate—rise or fall together—so there was no need to hide anything from her. Moreover, Zhao Yu truly wanted Zhang Chun's thousand-year-ahead insight to offer him useful advice, so he voiced his worries to her.

Zhang Chun listened, then fell silent for a long time.

Zhang Chun also knew that Jiangnan was the most critical priority for implementing the Two New Policies. If the Two New Policies could not be implemented in Jiangnan, Zhao Yu's reforms would inevitably fail—after all, a nation could not long sustain two systems, could it?

Currently, Hebei bordered Yi and Zhuoerzhou and adjoined the Central Plains; Hedong bordered Yunjiu Zhou and the Central Plains; the northwest bordered Longyou, Ningxia, Gansu, and Qinghai—all these regions could be reached by the Two New Policies, and their gentry could not possibly suppress the court's reforms with a single hand. Thus, as long as sufficient pressure was applied, they would eventually submit. Only Jiangnan was the hardest bone to crack.

The trouble was, Zhao Yu did not wish to use brute force here as he had in the Central Plains, for the consequences might be too great, even exhausting the Zhao-Song dynasty's national strength.

After a full incense stick of silence, Zhang Chun spoke her view: "No destruction, no establishment; once the bow is drawn, there is no turning back…"

…

(End of Chapter)