Chapter 30: The Idle Prince

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The reason Zhao Yu wasn't retaliated against by Liu Qingjing and the New Party after he fiercely criticized her and publicly humiliated Zhao Xu—besides Zhao Xu restraining Liu Qingjing and Empress Dowager Xiang and the Old Party backing Zhao Yu—was another crucial reason.

—The "Memorial on Land Reform" had shown the New Party that Zhao Yu supported reform and wasn't necessarily their enemy.

Originally, Zheng Xiansu had drafted the "Memorial on Land Reform" for Zhao Yu; Zhao Yu then casually copied it by hand onto a piece of paper and, in an informal setting, presented it to Zhao Xu, saying: "Your Majesty may read it during leisure; if you find it useless, discard it—but don't publicize it."

Zhao Yu submitted the "Memorial on Land Reform" this way primarily to avoid violating the taboo of princes interfering in state affairs.

Moreover, Zhao Yu wrote the "Memorial on Land Reform" merely to show Empress Dowager Xiang and Zhao Xu that he possessed the ability to resolve the current crisis of the Zhao Song dynasty—not to push for land reform right away.

—Land reform, especially in the Song dynasty, involved too many vested interests; talking about it was harmless, but actually implementing it meant waging war against the entire class of high officials, scholar-gentry, and wealthy clans; without absolute power, Zhao Yu would never dare step into this minefield.

Zhao Xu was inherently rebellious.

If Zhao Yu hadn't adopted this attitude, Zhao Xu might never have read the "Memorial on Land Reform."

But Zhao Yu's "read it if you want, throw it away if you don't" demeanor made Zhao Xu actually look forward to what Zhao Yu had written for him.

After reading the "Memorial on Land Reform," Zhao Xu confirmed that Zhao Yu was not of the Old Party—that his fierce criticism of Liu Qingjing was merely to protect Empress Dowager Xiang.

Thus, Zhao Xu no longer wanted to punish Zhao Yu, lest Zhao Yu, in desperation, fully clash with Liu Qingjing and leave Zhao Xu utterly humiliated.

Therefore, Zhao Xu's focus shifted from Zhao Yu's political stance to the "Memorial on Land Reform" itself.

Having pursued reform for so many years, though it had solved minor issues, the more Zhao Xu reformed, the more powerless he felt—as if an invisible force constantly obstructed his reforms.

The Yuanyou era was the early period of Zhao Xu's reign, during which Gao Taotao ruled from behind the curtain. Gao Taotao appointed Sima Guang as chancellor and abolished all of Wang Anshi's new laws.

The Shaosheng era was Zhao Xu's personal rule. Zhao Xu appointed Zhang Dun as chancellor and fully restored Wang Anshi's new laws.

Zhao Xu had once resolved to eliminate all those obstructing his reforms and devote himself entirely to change.

But after years of effort, Zhao Xu happened to obtain a painting titled "The Map of Helplessness."

It was a chart documenting the official appointments of the New and Old Parties in the court since Emperor Shenzong.

The chart had seven categories: chancellor, executive officials, imperial attendants, censors, junior officials, academies, and schools. It was divided into left and right columns: the left listed New Party members, the right listed Old Party members.

Result: the right column was densely packed with names, while the left column held only a few.

After viewing this chart, Zhao Xu realized that despite his father and himself reforming for so many years, the court's power had remained firmly in the hands of the Old Party—and that fulfilling his father's unfinished reform mission was exceedingly difficult.

Worse, the New Party was incompetent: their proposed policies were riddled with flaws, constantly giving the Old Party grounds to launch fierce attacks.

Even more disheartening, after years of reform, fully restoring the new laws, and harshly suppressing the Old Party—exiling Su Shi, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian, and others—the result was still an empty imperial treasury.

How empty?

In last year's Pingxiacheng battle, the Little Liang Empress Dowager invaded; lacking funds for war, Zhao Xu was forced to borrow over three million guan from six or seven wealthy merchants as military expenses—and still hasn't repaid it.

Utter humiliation!!!

Yes.

Zhao Xu had been sickly since childhood, even coughing up blood.

But if he hadn't been bullied by Gao Taotao and the Old Party since youth, left despondent; and if, after assuming personal rule, he hadn't had to navigate such extreme politics with no hope in sight—how could his health have deteriorated so badly?

Put simply: during these years of personal rule, Zhao Xu clung tightly to power, worked tirelessly daily—when officials slept, he stayed awake; when officials rose, he was already up—like a patchwork artisan mending the crumbling Zhao Song dynasty, while every day he lived in dread, fearing that one morning he'd open his eyes and find the leaky, rotting ship of Zhao Song had suddenly sunk.

What most paralyzed Zhao Xu was his utter confusion—he had no idea how to salvage this mess of the Zhao Song dynasty.

Court ministers also debated fiercely the starkly opposing policies of the Yuanyou and Shaosheng eras.

Ministers supporting Wang Anshi's reforms and those opposing them—the New and Old Parties—accused each other, locked in fierce struggle.

Crucially, the Zhao Song dynasty had reached a point where reform was absolutely necessary—this was the consensus from top to bottom, even among the Old Party; otherwise, the court couldn't even pay officials' salaries or soldiers' rations, with catastrophic consequences.

Notably, precisely because the Old Party had shifted its stance—supporting reform while opposing Wang Anshi's specific policies—Zhao Xu halted his suppression of the Old Party and appointed Han Zhongyan, leader of the Old Party, as vice-chancellor, hoping the New and Old Parties could unite to find a national salvation strategy.

Yet although reform had gained consensus, the New and Old Parties had argued for years over how to reform—and still had no direction.

Now, seeing the "Memorial on Land Reform," Zhao Xu's eyes lit up—he felt this might be a direction.

But Zhao Xu couldn't fathom: "Why would Prince Shen think the problem lies in failing to curb land consolidation?"

Zhao Xu reread the "Memorial on Land Reform" repeatedly; the more he read, the more he felt Zhao Yu's views were extraordinary—but Zhao Xu, raised since childhood in the palace, trapped in an information cocoon, couldn't perceive the memorial's true value.

Zhao Xu ignored Zhao Yu's advice to keep it quiet and summoned Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan, and Ceng Bu that very night to explain it to him.

After reading the "Memorial on Land Reform," Zhang Dun and the other two fell silent.

Zhang Dun and Ceng Bu thought: "Prince Shen truly dares to instruct His Majesty—if we follow his prescription to cure Great Song, the empire will either be reborn or collapse entirely—there is no third possibility."

Zhang Dun and Ceng Bu then realized:

"Prince Shen must know he is a retired prince, powerless over court affairs, and that no one cares what he says—hence he dared to reveal this."

"If Prince Shen were to lead reform, given his insight, he surely understands how severe the consequences of actual land reform would be—he'd likely end up like us, drifting with the tide, focusing only on economic, educational, and social welfare systems."

After reading the "Memorial on Land Reform," Zhang Dun and Ceng Bu knew Zhao Yu was no mere hot-headed Zhao Xu or Zhao Xu—he was a true man of insight; at least, someone close to Zhao Yu dared speak truth to him, enabling Zhao Yu to truly understand the Zhao Song dynasty's core problems.

In fact, many understood the Zhao Song dynasty's root illness.

As early as the founding of the Song dynasty—more precisely, during Emperor Taizong Zhao Guangyi's reign—someone had proposed: "Land has owners, yet some households own no land; the rich stretch their fields beyond sight, while the poor have no spot to plant a single bamboo shoot."

Others pointed out this was due to "no land system established" and "no suppression of consolidation."

By the so-called "peaceful" reign of Emperor Renzong, ministers explicitly stated: "Powerful officials and wealthy families occupy limitless land; consolidation and fraud have become entrenched customs, and strict prohibitions cannot stop them."

At the time, the court had taken several measures to curb land consolidation: banning officials from leasing imperial land; restricting temples and Daoist monasteries from purchasing land; strictly forbidding land purchases through loans.

Yet even so, by the eve of Wang Anshi's reforms, conservative estimates by officials indicated that 70% of cultivated land nationwide was held by the tax-exempt elite, while self-cultivating peasants and small landowners together owned only 30%.

Wang Anshi also believed land consolidation was harmful and wrote a poem titled "Consolidation" to express his opposition; his Green Sprout Law, Exemption from Corvée Law, and other measures aimed to curb land consolidation.

But due to limited vision, Wang Anshi's land reform methods treated symptoms, not roots, and contained many flaws.

Moreover, they threatened too many vested interests and met fierce resistance.

Added to this, those implementing the policies paid lip service while secretly undermining them.

As a result, Wang Anshi's land reform remained thunder without rain—no progress was made.

Thus, Zhao Yu's viewpoint was not novel at all.

One could even say that, from time to time, ministers had always emerged to raise the issue of land reform.

But those people did not, like Zhao Yu, put forward truly viable reform methods.

Zhao Yu's status was noble, and as a prince without deliberative authority, he could naturally say anything—including pointing out to Zhao Xu where his reforms had failed.

Zhang Dun and Ceng Bu were the leaders of the current ruling faction, with countless eyes watching them; they dared not speak lightly.

Han Zhongyan was the same.

But unlike Zhang Dun and Ceng Bu, seeing that Zhao Yu also had reformist intentions, Han Zhongyan thought:

"Prince Xin's enmity with Consort Liu was merely for the Empress Dowager's sake, unrelated to my old party."

"That makes sense—the imperial family truly wishes to resolve the problems facing Great Song, ensuring its eternity, not to win political struggles. How could they fully support my old party in attacking the new party?"

"Is not the Empress Dowager the same?"

"It seems this reform is truly inevitable now—even the prince is anxious."

"But the question is, how exactly should it be changed? Must land reform truly be carried out? Is there no other way?"

Seeing that Zhang Dun, Han Zhongyan, and Ceng Bu had all read the "Memorial on Land Reform" and remained silent, Zhao Xu asked: "Does Prince Xin's reform strategy hold any merit?"

……

(End of Chapter)